Man at ‘end of tether’ ill-treated Alsatian

Press, 2 July 1986, Page 6

Man at ‘end of tether’ ill-treated Alsatian

A man who had reached “the end of his tether” because of the serious problem of uncontrolled dogs in the Aranui area yesterday admitted a charge of cruelly ill-treat-ing an Alsatian by firing a slug pellet into its mouth. Graeme George Wllce, aged 42, a Chef (Mr P. I. Redmond), was convicted, but, because of the particular circumstances, the Judge imposed no penalty other than that the defendant pay $59 compensation to cover veterinary treatment for the dog. Sergeant Baker said the defendant fired a slug down the mouth of the dog when it walked through the front gate on to his property on the afternoon of May 9. Veterinary treatment was required to remove the slug which had lodged in the jaw below the teeth after passing through about 4cm of tissue. Wilce told the police he was “sick and tired” of uncontrolled animals wandering through his property, and fouling footpaths in the area. He said the particular dog had caused his young daughter to alter the way she went to and from school. . Wilce also told the police he made sure that the discharge of the rifle was of no danger to persons because, had he missed the dog, the shot would have gone into the ground, said Sergeant Baker. Mr Redmond told the Judge there was a serious dog problem in the area where his client lived. In support of this, he produced a letter from

the City Council which showed that 36 dogs had been seized and impounded in the Aranui area, with a further 25 being returned to their owners. > Of the 36 a number were owned by people living in the same street as Wilce. • ?. Complaints had been made to the council by the defendant who, on occasion, had assisted the dog ranger to round up stray, wandering dogs. • Mr Redmond said the problem had become more acute by people, getting dogs for security purposes in view of the number of burglaries taking place in the Aranui area. Of the actual offence, Mr Redmond said his client had not been aiming for the dog’s head. The animal had turned as he had fired the air'gun. Wilce had not intended to permanently harm the dog, or to ill-treat it, but merely to scare it off. His client was prepared to pay the veterinary costs involved, said Mr i Redmond.